The invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for displaying video and more particularly to methods and apparatus for displaying video employing multiple TV tuners.
Multimedia systems may employ a single TV tuner that may be employed as part of a graphics processing system. For example, a combination graphics processing and TV tuner may allow the display of an incoming TV information from satellite or cable television input or other video source to be overlaid on graphics information on a screen hooked up to a computer. Such systems can allow selection of capture quality so that a single decoder captures all video at a selected capture resolution. However, where a viewer is watching television on a such a screen and would like to watch portions of two television shows that are on the air at the same time, the viewer typically has to decide which program the viewer would like to see displayed on a display device since the TV tuner can only receive a single channel and display the single channel. Also, where the viewer would like watch a program on one channel and generate their own replay for the same channel or a different channel, a single tuner system typically would record the video for replay at a same quality level as the quality of the live video area. This can greatly tax the performance and processing abilities of such systems.
In addition, there are single TV tuner systems known that can provide the detection of key words based closed caption data to monitor a current channel and put a TV image in the background and bring the TV image into the foreground when the key word or phrase is detected. Accordingly, xe2x80x9chot wordsxe2x80x9d are an information pattern that is entered by a user and are compared with the incoming source stream. Recording can be started based on the key words detection in the single channel. However, such systems do not typically provide multi-channel detection and typically require a viewer to manually switch to a different channel through the single tuner when a different program is desired. This solution is inconvenient if the user wants to watch or capture segments of two programs that are on at the same time since xe2x80x9chot wordsxe2x80x9d can only typically be used to monitor the current channel.
Dual TV tuner systems are known that may be included, for example, in a television system. Such television systems do not typically offer multimedia capabilities including video graphics processing. However, such conventional dual tuner televisions typically provide a picture within a picture option but typically do not allow the delayed viewing of one program. Also, where a picture in a picture mode is used, this can distract the user who is wishing to detect when a particular program or other information is provided because the viewer must divide their attention between two channels.
In addition, combination television and VCR""s are known. In such a system, typically the TV includes one TV tuner and the VCR includes another TV tuner but the VCR provides analog recording. Also, such systems typically use separate control devices for each of the tuners and do not typically allow the user to view the captured video while capturing. A user must typically wait until the tape is finished and rewind the tape.
It would be desirable if a viewer watching delayed and live video could simultaneously watch both video streams at independent capture quality levels from one another. Conventionally, delayed video is recorded at a lower capture quality setting. In a single tuner configuration this also reduces the quality of the live video stream since the same quality setting is typically required for both the live video and recorded video.
It would also be desirable if a viewer could watch video received on one channel while simultaneously recording video from the same channel or another channel while keeping the quality of the primary channel being watched unaffected.
In one tuner system, one solution may be to capture (and record) the video stream at the highest possible quality setting for delayed video as with the live video and then downscaling the video using a suitable downscale, for example, using a graphics processor or other suitable circuit. However, recording high quality video requires increased processing and storage space.
Accordingly, a need exists for a video display apparatus and method that can overcome one or more of the above problems.